Harry Potter has already been mentioned and has many beloved characters such as Hermione or Hagrid. Many of the most famed manuscripts are beloved for their “strong characters,” which is another way of saying characterization. After all, how much of our own “plots” are related to our decisions (our character), and how much of it is totally random and disconnected from what we do? Plot and character should be developing side by side and rely upon each other, which reflects the human experience. So, it’s very useful to balance these two areas of development. On the other hand, no one is going to truly care about a story if they don’t care about its characters, whether by love or hate or even just amusement or pity. When you’re busy moving characters from one place to another, making things happen to them, it’s clumsy to suddenly stop, get inside of Tom’s head, and drift around with his thoughts for a while. They can quickly connect the reader to the character, without taking them out of the action. This is because characterization is a major tool in the plot-driven narrative. Modern storytelling usually emphasizes characterization even more than classical literature. They’ve interpreted the characterization differently. Although other characters can be used to make direct characterization (“Nicholas is crazy!”), they can also be used to make indirect characterization about themselves.įiguring out what it all means is most of the fun, and it’s the reason fans of certain books, shows, and movies can argue about whether or not a certain character is good, or evil, or in love. Indirect or implicit characterization uses behavior, speech, and appearance, as well as the opinions of other characters. This more subtle method of characterization relies on you, the reader, to decide for yourself what it means. The narration, “Clara had always been a smug, wicked little princess,” is a form of direct or explicit characterization, as is the line of dialogue, “Nicholas will never stop until he gets what he wants! He’s crazy!” b. This is clearly informative, and often uses the narrator, the protagonist, or the character themselves. Characterization can happen in many, many ways. For example, a character who snubs a beggar has is different from a character who opens their wallet and hands over a wad of hundreds, and still there are more differences from a character who works directly with the homeless population in a city. The way a character reacts to a certain scene also teaches us about them. It might also be a hint of how Dobby would show affection for other people he admires. In the Harry Potter series, Dobby refers to Potter as “the noble Harry Potter,” or “good Harry Potter,” which shows us how the house elf adores the young wizard. Even the way other characters speak to and about our characters is a form of characterization. The way a character speaks can inform us of their background and personality, like how educated they are, or what they consider to be important. The story is centered on what happens to them (the plot), so writers employ characterization to relay information about those thoughts, histories, and dreams, without drifting away from the action. This is used over the course of a story in order to tell the tale.Īristotle first defined characterization in the 15 th century, speaking of the importance of plot over character in Poetics, “ Tragedy is representation, not of men, but of action and life.” What he means here is that “tragedy” (or drama, meaning a story) is not centered on the thoughts, and histories, and dreams of the characters. Characterization is a writer’s tool, or “literary device” that occurs any time the author uses details to teach us about a person.
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